Poling device for railroad-cars



(No Model.)

W. G. BOSWELL. POLING DEVICE FOR RAILROAD CARS.

No. 529,060 Patented Nov. 13, 189 4.

m: Noam: PETERS co mo'raumm WASHINGTON, n. c

UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

WILLIAM C. BOSWELL, OF OLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA.

POLING DEVICE FOR RAILROAD-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 529,060, dated November 13, 1894.

Application filed March '7, 1894. Serial No. 0 |7 L N0 mod l- I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM C. BOSWELL. a citizen of the United States, residing at Olarksburg, in the county of Harrison and State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Poling Devices for Railroad-Oars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in devices for poling railroad cars and is especially designed for use on switching-engines in railroad yards.

In the usual method with which I am acquainted, a pole is carried on the front of the engine or on the side in bracket hooks; and when it is desired to pole a car the pole is taken from its place and inserted between a s0cket-block or bumper block on the engine and car to be poled. When the engine has given the requisite momentum to the car and is stopped, the pole drops to the ground and must be picked up and replaced in its usual position on the engine.

In my construction the pole has one end normally attached to the engine in such a manner as to permit the pole to swing in a horizontal plane, or a vertical plane, so that it maybe folded against the side of the engine or extended at an angle to permit of its ready use in poling cars.

My invention will first be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, and then particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings-Figure 1 is a side elevation of my device as applied to the tender of an engine, the pole resting on thesupporting hook. Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the pole extended as when in operation, the dotted lines illustrating the closed position of the pole. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view showing a cushion of rubber behind the ball.

Referring to the drawings, Ais a main casting having the two Wings, one of which, 1, extends a short distance along the end of the tender, while the other wing, 2, extends along the side of the tender and is provided with an enlargement, 3, which forms a sgket and is slotted for a purpose hereinafter described, that portion of the slot at the front of the socket-enlargement being inclined, as

shown at 4, while portions of the slot at the ends of the said enlargement are horizontal, as seen at 4'. In the socket is located the ball portion, 5, of a pole-holder B which has a shank, 6, passing through the slot 4, at, and made tubular to receive the inner end of the pole C, a screw 8 passing through the shank 6 serving to removably secure the pole to the pole holder. A bracket D, attached to the side of the tender on a horizontal line with the ball 5, serves to support the outer end of the pole when not in use.

In Fig. 3, E is a rubber cushion placed in the main casting behind the ball and adapted to receive the strain from the pole, thereby relieving the parts from the sudden jar when contact is first made between the pole and the car to be pushed.

It will be observed thatby my device the pole'\ can be swung a limited distance in a horizontal plane when the shank 6 is in either of the end portions at of the slot, and cannot drop to the ground. When the shank 6 is swung from one end portion 4 of the slot to the other, it passes through the inclined central portion 4 of the slot and hence is held at an incline, so that the'pole 0, when being swung from a position pointing forward to a position pointing rearward, will be raised upward at an incline, also. This construction permits the pole O to be shifted to the opposite position, when the cars are on the track alongside the engine carrying the poling device, which would not be the case if the entire length of the slot were horizontal. A small amount of vertical play is permitted in order that the outer end of the pole may be raised or lowered to suit the varying heights of different sizes of cars, permitting the end of the pole to be placed in the most advantageous position against the car to be pushed, as well as to permit the pole to be readily placed in the bracket when not in use.

Preferably the pole is made of wood in order that it may be easily replaced if broken, but it is evident that it may be made of metal piping or other light material, and while I have described the pole as attached to the tender, it is obvious that a similar securing device may be placed at any other point, as for instance=on the front of the engine, and

the pole may be interchangeably used in either securing device, simply by removing the screw 8. Moreover, instead of the slot having horizontal and inclined portions 4, 4, it may be entirely horizontal, but in this case the pole would not reach over the cars on the adjoining track if swung at right angles to the tender, the disadvantage of which is ob vious.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a poling device for railroad cars, a main casting having a socket and a slot inclined at its central portion, a pole-holder having a ball movable'in the socket and a shank movable in the slot, and a pole secured to the pole-holder, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a poling device for railroad cars, a main casting having a socket and a slot, a pole-holder having a ball movable in the socket and a shank movable in the slot, a pole, a screw passing through the pole-holder, and a rubber cushion back of the ball, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a poling device for railroad cars, the combination, with a main casting having a socket and a slot, of a pole-holder having a ball movable in the socket and a shank movable in the slot, a ball secured to the poleholder and a bracket secured to the engine tender in a horizontal line with the ball and arranged to receive the outer end of the pole, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM G. BOSWELL.

Witnesses:

C. H. ToWLEs, J. V. JONES. 

